Silver and Gold
by secret-desert-insomniac
Summary: -Post Reichenback- Sebastian finds something Jim left behind for him and has to come to terms with it. M for language.


Just some head canon work, ideas courtesy of someone who knows who she is. I do not own the characters.

Dedicated to Quinn.

* * *

Sebastian Moran didn't grieve, not openly anyway. He still resented the man for killing himself and leaving nothing behind. At least Watson got a bloody phone call. No, he didn't get anything from Jim, and that's exactly the way he would've had it.

Returning from an arduous trip he trudged into the flat wanting nothing more than a strong cup of his favorite earl grey tea. Setting the kettle on he rifled through the cabinet where the tea was, pushing aside all of Jim's 'herbal' teas. The stuff was crap. Too sweet and light for his taste. Seeing the different boxes though reminded him of all the times that he'd been ordered to the nearest store to get some under the penalty of death or torture if he didn't. His cheeks flushed and hot tears stung at his eyes. Throwing each box to the ground he stopped when there was a dull thud from one as it hit the hardwood.

Examining the offending box he carefully picked it up; eyes wandering over the picture of a tiger on the side of it. Jim had sometimes referred to Seb as his tiger and the consulting criminal was thrilled when he had brought this particular box back from a mission in India. Slowly cracking the box open he let out a laugh as his eyes drew over what was inside. A velvet box. Fucking Jim. Leave it to him to do this kind of shit when no one was looking. Pulling the small velvet box out his eyes caught small lettering on the white bottom of the tea box. "My dearest Moran, this is for you. I know you probably won't wear it, hell, you'll probably have it pawned within a week of my passing but know that you meant a lot more to me than a stupid ring. I just could never tell you that."

Several weeks went by and the velvet box remained unopened on the counter. One night after a particularly bad bar fight he pulled himself into the kitchen, grabbed the box and slumped to the ground. Turning it over in his hands he muttered curses at the man for everything he'd put him through, then, everything he hadn't. Sliding the box open he observed the plain silver ring. Of course. Jim hadn't even wanted to spring for something nice, instead Sebastian now had this stupid thing in place of his boss. Balling his fist up around it he let out a strangled cry then drew his arm back and threw it across the room, listening as it clattered to the floor. "Fuck you Jim!" He spat into the silence clenching his body so tight he was shaking. He wouldn't give him the benefit of wearing the damn ring if he hadn't even put anything into it.

Several more weeks passed and he started to wonder if he could pawn the thing for some cash. Not that he'd get much, but it'd be better than having to think about it collecting dust in a corner somewhere. The flat was mostly empty, neither of them had ever had much junk, so finding the ring wasn't a problem. Shoving it back into the box he made his way out of the flat to the nearest pawn shop. As he walked there he continued to flip the box open and closed, the hinges of it squeaking in protest. His eyes caught the little silver circle again and he sighed. Things with Jim had always been complicated but that worked for them. This ring though, this wasn't something that was complicated at all. Slowing his feet until they were dragging he propped himself against a wall, turning the small piece of jewelry over in his hands.

Getting angrier and angrier at the thing he didn't even want to sell it any more, only destroy it. pulling his keys out he dug one into the surface of the ring, leaving a brilliant scratch in it's wake. A self-satisfied grin broke across his face. He continued to work at the ring with his key until every part of the surface was scratched. As his rage diminished he noticed that in one of the scratches, some of the silver had come off. _Great_, he thought. _Not only did he get me something inexpensive, he got me something cheap, too_. Working his keys at the chip he scratched more off, realizing that the metal underneath was gold, not nickel or copper.

The ring lay in the palm of his hand for a few minutes as he tried to figure out what the hell this was. Pocketing the damn thing he stormed back to the flat and turned on the computer, beating his thumb against the desk as the machine came to life. He typed several different things into the search bar looking for a picture of the thing. 'Silver to gold ring'. No luck. 'Silver plated gold ring.' Again nothing that resembled the ring he had. After searching several more times with words along the same lines he changed to a full web search and tried 'wedding ring that changes from silver to gold'. Sure enough the first search result was about this brand of ring and had a picture of the same one that was housed in his pocket. The makers of the ring had designed it so that the longer it was worn, the more valuable it was. "Fuck you Jim." He said with a laugh. "Fuck you. You left, I'm not wearing this stupid thing where anyone else can see." Pulling it out of his pocket he looked it over once more before removing his dog tags and opening the chain to slide it on with the tags. Holding the chain and dog tags at arms length he gave a huff then put the chain back over his neck.

The ring was now scratched up where the silver was, but finely polished where the gold shone through. And Sebastian wore it around his neck with his tags, and they hung near his heart, right where Jim had always been.


End file.
